Dow History: The Early Years

The Dow Industrials saw some of their worst and best periods in their first 70 years of trading. Here's some highlights.

November 4, 1896 -- Dow hits its first high of 42.79 after the first day of trading. The average trended down for its first five months.

1896 - 1899 -- The Dow hits new highs each year.

1905 - 1906 -- 36 new highs were hit with the Dow breaking 100.

1906 - 1916 -- Not one new high is hit during this period..

1919 - 1924 -- The market has another drought.

1924 - 1929: The Roaring Twenties or the"New Era" -- This memorablebull market notches 187 record closes and coincides with such technical advances as the first TV, rocket, talking picture, color photograph, but ends on a bad note in 1929. The market crashes on Oct. 24 and sinks further for another month, taking the Dow from 381 to 145.